


Like You Mean It

by queerofthedagger



Series: Chasing Stars - A Series of Jegulus One-Shots [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Voldemort, Don't copy to another site, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Professional Quidditch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-24 22:00:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21506029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queerofthedagger/pseuds/queerofthedagger
Summary: When Regulus gets hit on in a Muggle bar while celebrating his graduation and signing up as a professional Seeker, he thinks asking James to pose as his boyfriend for a moment, instead of hexing an unsuspecting Muggle, is a rather smart move. After all, it's only for a few minutes, so it won't be much of a problem with thesmallcrush he has. Right? Well - let's just say it doesn't work out that neatly. Until it does.
Relationships: Regulus Black/James Potter
Series: Chasing Stars - A Series of Jegulus One-Shots [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1524134
Comments: 17
Kudos: 464





	Like You Mean It

**Author's Note:**

> Another prompt fill for tumblr! "Help me I'm being hit on at a bar please be my fake boyfriend for a second."
> 
> Please do not repost my work anywhere or list it on goodreads (or similar sites).

Regulus is going to kill Sirius, he thinks, weaving his way through the throng of people clustering the shady bar his brother dragged him to, narrowly avoiding getting drinks spilled on his shirt.

Alright, maybe nothing quite that drastic but he’s not sure why Sirius thought a ratty punk-bar in Brixton would be the obvious choice to celebrate Regulus’ graduation and signed contract for the Seeker position of the Falmouth Falcons. Or maybe he simply isn’t drunk enough yet.

Ducking underneath another elbow, he steps up at the end of the long-winded bar that runs along the wall, leaning his elbows onto the dark wood and watches as the two barkeepers try to keep up with the string of orders.

The bass of the rough music is reverberating in his head, he can feel the vibrations through his shoes and up his legs and the strobing lights let everything appear slower, like watching a series of individual pictures in quick succession and he can admit, at least to himself, that he kind of gets why Sirius likes to come here.

It’s a stark contrast to the wizarding world, to everything they grew up with and he can nearly taste the sense of defiant freedom the people here carved out for themselves – he’s just annoyed that he lost Sirius, James, and Remus somewhere in the jumping crowd and isn’t all that certain that he fits in here.

“Hey there, pretty boy!” a loud voice shouts way too close to his ear for comfort, the words slightly slurred and he clenches his jaw, refusing to visibly jump.

Taking a deliberate step back, he slowly turns, lips curving into an instinctive sneer. Maybe he’s going to reconsider the murder plans from earlier he thinks, looking the guy up and down. He’s taller than Regulus, which is saying something, and twice as wide, with an unkempt beard and an unrefined face. Worst of all, he’s leering and Regulus’ fingers itch for his wand.

“What do you want?!” he asks, raising an eyebrow and standing up a bit taller.

His hostile attitude doesn’t seem to deter the guy; he simply takes another step towards him, leaning close and grins. “Don’t be shy. You look bored, and a pretty guy like you – “

Right, no. His eyes flicker to the side and he thinks he’s never been more relieved to see James Potter standing only a few feet away, leaning over the bar and talking to the barkeeper. Without another word, he steps around the guy and pushes his way over to James, pressing up close to him.

James looks surprised but flashes him a quick smile. “Alright there, Reg? Enjoying yourself?”

He silently thanks whoever is listening that just now there’s a switch of the bands, just background music filling the small space, and that he doesn’t have to shout to be heard. “No, but listen. There’s this absolutely disgusting guy hitting on me so, to prevent me from hexing the living daylight out of some Muggle, pretend to be my boyfriend for a moment, yeah? Great, thanks. There he comes.”

James' eyes widen and he opens his mouth, but Regulus elbows him into the side before wrapping an arm around his waist. James tenses for a moment but he seems to get it quickly enough, eyes suddenly dancing with mirth. He throws an arm around Regulus’ shoulders, leaning close. “Alright, but you owe me.”

Regulus spares a moment to consider that this might not have been his best idea; he harboured a small crush on James for years now, and they’re going to play on the same Quidditch team soon. Then again, it’s not like this is going to take longer than a few minutes and he’ll probably only have to help him prank Sirius or something.

Shaking his head, deciding to worry about this later and ignoring the little voice in his head telling him that he might be drunker than expected, he leans into the hug, turning his head when the guy steps up next to James and looks at the two of them.

James’ smile vanishes and he tightens his grip on Regulus, who’s definitely _not_ enjoying this more than he should. “Need something?” James asks, all that arrogance and cockiness he carried through his first six years of school breaking through.

“I was just talking to your friend – “

“My boyfriend,” James says with a pointed look. “And he didn’t appreciate it, so if you could get lost – “

The guy frowns, lips curling downwards and for a moment, Regulus thinks that this could turn very ugly. “Are you certain about that?”

Regulus sneers, glaring and leaning around James. “Who the fuck do you think you are to question that? Even if I wasn’t, I was obviously not interested so I’m going to repeat what James just said – get lost!”

He thinks there’s something like recognition flickering through his eyes, but it’s gone just as quickly. “Well then, your loss.”

Both James and he snort and shake their heads at his retreating back. Before either of them can say anything, Sirius steps into the empty spot, looking between them and the guy that just left them alone. “What in Merlin’s name did you talk with Andrews about?”

“Who?” James asks, taking his glass from the bar and downing half of it, still not taking his arm from Regulus’ shoulder.

He tells himself he only stays close in case they’re being watched, but he’s not sure he believes that himself.

“Andrews – the new Beater from your team? You know, Quidditch – “

“You’re kidding me,” James states confidently, shaking his head and smirking at Sirius like he easily sees through his joke.

Sirius looks confused though, slowly shaking his head. “Eh no, I don’t? He was at the try-outs and got the spot – how can you not know that? And what did you do that he looked so pissed?”

James falters, running a hand through his hair and Regulus takes his glass from him because he really needs a drink right now.

“We – well, he – what the fuck is he doing here? This is a Muggle bar,” he says, his throat still burning from the whiskey.

Sirius looks at him like he’s a bit dense and he scowls at him.

“The whole team is here, you know that – and what is it with you two, anyway?!”

James groans, dropping his head onto Regulus’ shoulder who keeps himself from running his hand up and down James’ spine by pure force of will.

“He was hitting on me, and rather disgustingly as well,” he says, lips twitching when Sirius’ exasperation morphs into an annoyed scowl on his behalf. “He didn’t get the message and I spotted James, so – well, I asked him to act as my boyfriend for a second.”

Telling it to Sirius, it doesn’t sound as smart anymore as it did a few minutes ago and Sirius’ barking laugh doesn’t help matters. “You did what? That’s the best you come up with when someone is hitting on you? Merlin Reg – “

“I know, I know okay?! It’s not like James didn’t agree though,” he says, rolling his eyes and nudging James a bit who finally looks up again.

“Did you, now?” Sirius asks with an amused smirk, raising a brow at James.

James shuffles his feet a bit, avoiding to look at either of them before flashing Sirius a sheepish grin. “I didn’t know it’s him – and well, Regulus said otherwise he’s going to hex the guy, so I thought, you know, before getting an incident on our hands because of breaking the Statute of Secrecy – “

Sirius laughs again, shaking his head. “Very self-sacrificing, Prongs. Well, if you two don’t want to have a spit with your future teammate already, I’d suggest you keep that up for a while.”

Regulus’ eyes widen and he quickly looks at James, who appears to be far less concerned by that idea than he has any right to, instead just tightening his hold on Regulus and grinning at him.

“Well then, seems like we have a fake dating thing going on.”

Yeah, _definitely_ not one of his best ideas Regulus thinks, plucking the glass out of Sirius’ hands. How is he supposed to get through this without going mad within weeks?

* * *

He wakes up with a pounding head, a dry throat and pain in his back, and it takes him long moments to remember where he is and why he feels like he had a run-in with a Hippogryph.

Blinking his eyes open, he looks around the messy living room of James’ and Sirius’ flat, books, vinyl’s and a few empty mugs littering the dark hardwood floor and available surfaces and he slowly pulls himself up into a sitting position.

“Morning,” Sirius greets him, levitating two mugs and handing one to Regulus, looking way too cheery for his tastes.

All he manages is a grunt in response and he closes his eyes in bliss at the first sip of hot coffee. Sirius throws himself into one of the worn armchairs across from him, watching with an amused expression as Regulus slowly returns to the land of the living.

“As often as you’re staying here since you graduated, we could actually consider giving you the third room,” Sirius breaks the silence after a few minutes, and when he looks up, he’s smirking. “Would give your whole relationship-story a bit more weight, too?”

He’s confused for a few seconds before realisation washes over him and he curses under his breath, pulling his knees up to his chest and burying his face into them.

“Oh come on, James isn’t that bad,” Sirius teases, obviously enjoying the whole thing far too much and Regulus thinks he would like to hex his brother. “I was serious about the room though. It basically serves as a storage room right now, and then you wouldn’t have to stay at Grimmauld’s. Or constantly sleep on the couch.”

Distaste is clear in Sirius’ tone and he looks up again, sighing to himself. “Mother is going to throw an epic fit if I move in with you. Even worse than when she found out I signed up for Quidditch.” He doesn’t manage to hide the slight wince at the memory and Sirius’ face turns a bit softer.

“Exactly why I’m offering, she’s not suddenly going to stop pestering you about it.”

Drawing his bottom lip between his teeth, he thinks about it. Normally, he would agree without a second thought. Sirius and he mended their relationship over the last 2 years after drifting apart when he was sorted into Slytherin, and while they’re always going to be different, they get along well enough.

The bigger problem is James – not because he doesn’t like him, more due to the fact that he probably likes him a bit _too much_ , and just got himself into a fake relationship with him. He’s not so naïve to think that this couldn’t blow up in his face.

“I’ll think about it,” he says after a few moments, sinking deeper into the cushion and closing his eyes, trying to calm his racing heart.

James finds them like this, flopping down next to Regulus unceremoniously. A quick glance at him is enough to nullify all his effort to calm down – James looks soft, hair wet and wearing a white t-shirt that stretches over his chest and shoulders, and he’s smiling at both of them.

“That was a good night, wasn’t it?” James says, stretching his arms over the backrest and coming terribly close to Regulus. “Got drunk, danced a lot, celebrated Regulus and I even got a new boyfriend.”

The smirk and satisfaction in James’ tone nearly make him choke on his coffee and he has to fight hard to keep his composure. Of course James Potter would make a joke out of it he thinks, not without some bitterness.

Sirius just snorts, throwing a cushion vaguely into their direction and missing by a landslide.

“You should probably come up with some story, so when someone asks, you’re not contradicting each other. It’s bound to get some attention, seeing that you’re both professional Quidditch players now.”

Regulus just groans again, letting his head fall back and startling when it lands on James’ arm. Merlin, what did he get himself into?

James hums, obviously unbothered by their closeness. “We started dating after I left school and finally got over Evans, otherwise nobody is going to believe it anyway, or make a whole lot of drama out of it. I don’t know, we met through you, of course, and kept the whole thing silent because Reg was still in school.”

“Oh yeah, that’s good! So you’ve not been together for long, let’s say a month? Means you’re still in your honeymoon phase though,” Sirius goes on, throwing his legs over the armrest of the chair he’s sitting in. “You don’t have to shout it from the rooftops, of course, it all depends a bit on how much Andrews is going to bother you about it or if he’ll just keep his mouth shut.”

Regulus doesn’t think that it’s very likely, seeing how bad the idiot took their proclamation last night, but he doesn’t feel inclined to join their planning session right now.

“Makes sense, though we shouldn’t act like we’re just friends all the time. It’s not like there’s much room during practice to be all couple-y but, you know, arriving and leaving together, holding hands, that kind of stuff,” James says, his hand nudging Regulus’ shoulder who only nods in response.

“Oh, and then you can stage a breakup in a few weeks – if you didn’t date for long and say it’s a mutual decision, nobody’s going to doubt that it’s not that hard for you two to still get along – for my sake, if for nothing else,” Sirius grins, clapping his hands together.

“What do you think?” James asks, and it takes him a moment to realise that the question is directed at him.

Shrugging, he leans forwards again to get away from James for a bit. “Sounds fine to me. Now that I know that the git is a wizard, I can simply hex him if he’s getting on my nerves anyway, so we could actually cut this rather short.”

There’s a flash of… something in James’ eyes but then he shakes his head and grins. “Don’t spoil the fun, I actually like the idea. It’s going to be great!”

Of course James would see it this way, just another prank he can pull.

“Yeah alright, it’s probably better to not already antagonise my teammates already,” he says with a sigh. If he tells himself often enough that it’s the only reason he’s agreeing to this, he might actually believe it at some point.

* * *

The next few weeks are flying by and the whole thing turns out to be less taxing on him than he thought. They simply arrive at and leave training together often, hold hands and share their breaks – ignoring the hand-holding, which is rather nice as far as Regulus is concerned, it’s not that different from what they would be doing, anyway.

Unfortunately, the press catches wind of it soon. They can’t be sure if they’ve been seen or if their teammates couldn’t keep their mouths shut, but about a month after it all started, there’s an extensive article both in the Prophet and Witch Weekly.

_ Both Bachelors Black and Potter off the market! _

_Dear readers, you’re going to be as surprised as I was when the news reached me the first time. Regulus Black (18) and James Potter (19), both fresh, young players of the Falmouth Falcons, are no longer single!_

_James Potter already became well-known over the course of the last season, filling the position as Chaser directly out of Hogwarts where he led the Gryffindor team to the Quidditch cup six years in a row, the last two years as captain._

_Many girls and boys are aware of James’ good looks and charming smile, and there have been speculations about his relationship status for the whole of last year, only outmatched by his best mate, Sirius Black (20)._

_This season found another young talent among the ranks of the Falmouth Falcons. Sirius Black’s younger brother, Regulus Black, got chosen as the new Seeker and is rumoured to easily match James Potter’s talent. He not only matches him in talent though – the Black family is well-known, not only for their high standing in society but also for their very good looks, and Regulus is no exception._

_So maybe it shouldn’t be such a huge surprise that both rising Quidditch stars found themselves a partner – but I think nobody is going to contradict me when I say that it’s rather unexpected that they are in a relationship with each other._

_An anonymous source tells me: “Potter and Black always arrive at training together and are basically inseparable as soon as they’re off the pitch. They’re often seen holding hands and Black spends a lot of his time over at his brothers flat, where both Sirius Black and James Potter live together.”_

_Well, dear readers, I can’t say that they aren’t making one of the most handsome couples I’ve laid eyes on in some time! I’m sure we would all like to know how their relationship came to be! Is Sirius Black fine with this fresh love between his brother and his best friend? What does the Black family think about it? And what will happen if they break up at some point – that wouldn’t be easy, playing on the same team! Stay tuned, this reporter will make sure to keep you up to date!_

Regulus would have laughed about the article as much as James and Sirius probably did if he hadn’t found out about its existence by his mother reading it out loud, her voice trembling with barely repressed fury.

His first instinct is to deny it, but the annoyance and defiance that’s been building within him for some time now rears its head – it shouldn’t matter what the bloody hell he does with his time, or whom he’s dating and even if this relationship wasn’t completely fake, she has no right whatsoever to demand he ends it. He stubbornly ignores the voice that tells him that he’s starting to go a bit far for this whole thing, tells her straight-up she can shove it, packs his stuff and moves into the spare room in Sirius’ and James’ flat.

Sirius looks way too proud when he tells him what happened, grinning brightly and throwing an arm around his shoulders. “I knew you had it in you! We have to celebrate that!”

It’s then that James walks in, bags of groceries in his arms and he smirks at them. “Hey, hands off my boyfriend, Padfoot!”

Regulus chokes out a laugh, still a bit incredulous that he actually walked out on his mother, but Sirius simply snorts, rolling his eyes at James. “You can be glad I let you fake-date my little brother, don’t test me.”

Regulus smacks the back of his head before stepping out of his reach. “You said something about celebrating? I could use a drink.”

“Let’s go to the Leaky Cauldron, we shouldn’t get too wasted seeing that it’s our last training before the match tomorrow and that never works out in Muggle London. We can ask Remus and Peter as well,” James pipes up from the kitchen.

When they walk into the pub an hour later, Regulus’ nerves calmed a bit and he actually feels like he made the right decision. If everything goes to hell, he can always find his own place, it’s not like he’s lacking the money.

His good mood dims when they not only find Remus and Peter but half of their team in one of the boots in the back, including Andrews who made it his personal goal to get on both of his and James’ nerves in the last few weeks.

Still, it would have been impolite to not join them and it’s not like they don’t give as good as they get.

It’s still a funny night; they drink too much beer and firewhiskey, exchange guesses and theories about the coming match and Quidditch in general and he gets into a lengthy discussion with James about the possible uses of Transfiguration in a duel.

They’re sitting close to each other, James’ arm over the back of his chair and their knees knocking together occasionally. It’s a good thing that everybody believes they’re dating and that he can put his lingering glances down to acting his part; his heart is beating too fast and he feels warm, and he tries to keep reminding himself that this is _not real_ , that James’ small smiles and short touches are nothing but an act, a game to him, but he’s not all that successful.

At some point, the inevitable needling from Andrews starts, because of course it does. “So, how’s it with the two of you? We only ever see you holding hands and sure, it’s cute and all but you’re either disgustingly innocent or maybe not as in love as you claim to be.”

“What, just because you don’t find us snogging on the Quidditch pitch every other day?” Regulus sneers, unable to help himself. “If you want a show, visit a strip club, for Merlin’s sake.”

James laughs and a warm sense of satisfaction curls in his chest at the thought that it was he who put that carefree expression there.

“It is a bit weird, though,” Mary Charleston speaks up with a thoughtful look. “Don’t get me wrong, you two are definitely disgustingly in love, there’s no doubt about that – “

And isn’t that a bad joke, Regulus thinks bitterly, carefully keeping his face free of that emotion.

“ – But I didn’t take either of you for much of a prude – well, especially not Potter.”

He’s just readying himself to tell them all where they can stick it and that he doesn’t need to indulge in public displays of affection because he doesn’t owe them anything, when James’ hand slides up his arm and settles on his neck, and at the same time he turns, leaning forward in his chair and kisses Regulus.

It’s like his mind goes blank within a second, everything narrowing down to the soft, warm lips pressed against his, the thumb drawing circles into his neck and James’ smell invading his senses, of freshly cut grass and soap and something spicy – pine maybe, he can’t think straight enough to actually tell.

It takes him a moment to open his eyes again after James pulls back, their faces still close and a soft smile tugging at James’ lips before he gives a soft sigh and sits back in his chair, smirking at the others. “There, satisfied?”

Reality crashes back into him and he swallows against the feeling of cold disappointment that replaces the warmth and elation within seconds. He’s never been so thankful for the endless hours of his mother telling him to never show what he feels, he thinks, biting his tongue and raising a challenging brow at Andrews. Right. All just an act.

“Alright, that was hot. And convincing,” Mary says, grinning at the two of them and he forces himself not to tense when James puts his arm back around his shoulders.

Later, when they’re home and he retreated into his room, there’s a soft knock on the door and James steps in, wearing sweatpants and a washed-out shirt that makes Regulus fingers itch to pull him into bed.

“Hey, just wanted to check – sorry if I overstepped earlier, I was…” James trails off, ruffling his hair and the movement has his shirt riding up, revealing a sliver of tanned skin Regulus has to draw his eyes away from.

Gesturing dismissively, he just shakes his head, looking back down at his book. “Don’t worry about it, it was just a short kiss.”

James is silent for a moment and when he looks back up, he’s watching him with a small frown.

Exhaling slowly, he smiles. “Honestly James, it’s alright.”

“Yeah I – okay, good. Goodnight then,” James murmurs, leaving his room and shutting the door before he can say anything else.

* * *

The next morning, it’s like nothing happened and no matter how convoluted his feelings on the whole matter are, Regulus is glad for that right now. He’s nervous enough as it is with their first match taking place today, and he shoves each and every thought that involves James as far away as possible.

Still, as soon as he takes off and the game starts, it’s like he left all his nervousness behind. It’s perfect weather for flying – it’s cold but the sky is clear, weak November sun promising a good chance to spot the Snitch, and he quickly starts circling the pitch above the rest of the players, letting his eyes wander and keeping half an ear on the commentary.

Puddlemere United played rather badly in the last season but they exchanged half of their team and it’s hard to tell how it’s going to affect this year, though if the fact that, after 15 minutes, the Falmouth Falcons are already leading with 50 points, it might have not been of much use.

James is in his best form, and Regulus catches himself a few times watching him play for a tad too long – that’s definitely a habit he needs to let go of he thinks, letting his eyes roam over the stands.

It wasn’t that much of a problem in Hogwarts, seeing that they only ever had one match against each other per year, but he can’t keep getting distracted now. Maybe he shouldn’t have joined the same team then, that annoying, little voice speaks up again and he shakes his head to dispel it.

A flicker to his right catches his attention and he turns his head, fixing his eyes on the little, golden ball that’s currently hovering at the bottom of Puddlemere’s goalposts. It’s closer to him than the opposing Seeker, Jones, and he doesn’t waste another second to drop into a dive, weaving between players and taking a sharp turn when the Snitch zips to the left.

A brief look over his shoulder shows him that Jones noticed the Snitch as well, or at least that something is going on, but he’s too far behind to catch up and if the Snitch doesn’t do something very annoying, he shouldn’t have much of a chance.

As if reading his thoughts, it suddenly changes directions and flies straight up. Gritting his teeth, he follows, ignoring Jones when he pulls close to him. There are only a few feet left before he can grab it and he curses under his breath when it pulls to the right, directly out of his path. He just thinks he’s going to lose after all when it flies back, back into his way and he can’t help his whoop of joy when his hand finally closes around it.

James touches down only a second after him and before he knows what’s happening, throws his arms around Regulus’ neck and pulls him into a deep, demanding kiss. His body is still soaring with the rush from winning them their first game and he simply clenches his fingers into the front of James’ robes, pushing against him and letting himself get lost in this marvellous feeling.

A hand lands on his shoulder, pulling him back and they break apart, for a moment just grinning at each other and then there’s a bright flash and Regulus whirls around, staring at the reporter holding a camera and wearing a self-satisfied smile.

It’s like dropping into the freezing Great Leak from hundreds of feet up in the air, his chest clenches and he balls his hands into fists, nails digging into his palms and teeth grinding together.

It’s only minutes of celebration until they’re free to go to the changing rooms but it feels way too long, thoughts racing through his head with only the burning need to get away really reaching him.

Bloody hell but he can’t do this any longer. It’s been fine when holding hands was all they did but this, this makes him go mad because the longer it goes on, the more often James kisses him, the more he realises that he’s long since past a simple crush.

All that time they spent together, in training, in their flat, talking about books and Quidditch and James making him laugh until his stomach hurt, it’s simply too much and he doesn’t think he can keep up this façade any longer; not even regarding their teammates or the public, he honestly couldn’t care less about that now, but he just _knows_ that one of these days he’s going to break and tell James exactly how little of his affection he has to fake.

And if he’s certain about one thing, it’s that he can’t do that. It’s been obvious from the very beginning that this is all one great, hilarious prank to James and in the best case, James would simply laugh at him; in the worst, he’s going to be sorry for Regulus and he doesn’t think he could take that.

He needs distance, desperately so, and as soon as he’s out of sight and can slip away from his still cheering team, he apparates back to the flat and storms into his room, haphazardly throwing a few things into a bag and leaving again within less than 10 minutes.

He’s a bit surprised to find himself on Barty’s doorstep. They kept in touch after school, one of the few real friends he actually made at Hogwarts, but he realises with a start that it’s been some time since they’ve seen each other and it’s mostly due to him spending nearly every moment with James and Sirius.

They have that effect on people, he thinks, clenching his jaw – drawing you in, making you forget everything else, and he got completely lost in it.

Fortunately, it’s Barty’s mother that answers the door. His father never liked Regulus much, solely because of him being a Black, and he’s not sure he could have stayed calm and polite right now on top of everything else.

“Oh, hello Regulus, I didn’t know Barty was expecting you. No matter though, he’s in his room, just go on through,” she greets him with a kind smile, and he forces himself to return it.

Her worried frown tells him that he wasn’t all that successful, but he quickly ducks into the corridor, thinking that he’d probably break and spill everything if she asked him if he was alright in that motherly way he always envied a bit.

Barty’s sitting on his bed, surrounded by books and parchment with an ink-stain on his left cheek and a quill tugged behind his ear, getting a fleeting smile out of him.

“Hey,” he says quietly, staying in the doorway and suddenly uncertain what to say.

Barty’s head flies up in surprise but it’s quickly replaced by a bright smile. “Reg! Didn’t expect to see you, come in! Didn’t you just have your first match today?”

The tight knot in his chest loosens ever so slightly at the warm, familiar comfort of Barty’s company and he drops his bag to the floor where he stands before flopping down into the chair next to Barty’s bed. “Yeah, we won.”

“Alright – shouldn’t you be… I don’t know, _happy_ about it?” Barty asks with raised eyebrows, slowly gathering the many pieces of parchment into a neat pile.

Shrugging, he looks away from him, pondering what to say. “Yeah I am – or well. It was a good match, at least,” he finally sighs, running a hand over his face, fingers lingering on his lips for a short moment.

Honestly, James Potter doesn’t have any fucking right to kiss him like he means it.

“Well, why are you scowling like someone killed your Kneazle, then?”

Grimacing, he blows out a long breath and closes his eyes for a moment. “It’s – I – James…”

“Your boyfriend?” Barty asks surprised, leaning back against the wall and stretching his legs out. “By the way, you could have told me that you finally got your crush to go out with you, you unfaithful git.”

He groans, leaning forward and propping his elbows on his knees before burying his face in his hands. “He’s not – we’re not together.”

“What?! Did he break up with you?! I swear to Merlin – “

A quick look shows Barty already half up from his bed, wand in his hand and a short laugh escapes him, and even he can tell that it sounds vaguely hysteric. “No, we were – we just pretend to be together. Pretended. Salazar, I swear this is such a mess.”

Barty stares at him for long moments before slowly sitting back down. “Do you mean to tell me that you thought it’s a good idea to fake-date the guy you’ve been crushing on ever since 5th year? Didn’t you even move in with them?”

He just nods defeatedly, feeling the beginnings of a headache.

“Merlin Reg, that’s so exceptionally stupid I wouldn’t even have expected it from your brother, much less you.” It’s a sober, clinical statement and he can’t help but agree.

“It’s not like I planned to, you know?” he says with another sigh and Barty just looks at him disbelievingly. “Really, we were in this Muggle bar and there was a guy hitting on me, not taking no for an answer. So I asked James if he could act like my boyfriend, thinking it would be a case of a few minutes. Well, turned out that he was the new Beater of our team.”

Slowly, Barty pulls the whole story out of him, his face becoming more sympathetic and exasperated with each passing minute.

“Well,” he says when Regulus is finally finished. “It’s still stupid and you could have ended it weeks ago, but I kind of see why you didn’t, you miserable sod.”

Regulus just opens his mouth to answer, he doesn’t even know what, when the door to Barty’s room opens.

Expecting to see Ms. Crouch, he startles violently when James is stepping inside, face flushed and slightly out of breath.

“No, absolutely not!” Barty snaps, already up and halfway through the room before Regulus even processes what he’s seeing.

It’s kind of cute and reminds him that Barty has always been a bit overprotective for whatever reason, but it’s also misplaced. He calmed down considerably since getting here and it’s probably better to get the whole thing over with rather sooner than later.

Getting up, he pulls Barty back from James who, for his part, has his hands raised in a placating gesture and looks terribly confused. “It’s alright, I’ll be back in a minute,” he says tiredly, gesturing for James to lead the way. “Let’s go outside.”

They’re silent until they reach the French doors leading into the garden and Regulus leans against the wall, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. Bad habit he picked up from Sirius, he thinks, staring at it for long moments before sighing again and meeting James’ eyes.

“I just – Why did you… I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t know it would bother you so much more than last night and I was just – “

Exhaling the smoke in a rush, he holds up a hand and shakes his head. “It’s not about that. I just – we should end this whole charade,” he says quietly, watching as the wind whips around white particles of ash before carrying them away.

“What – why?” James stammers, his voice somewhat rough and when he glances at him out of the corner of his eyes, he’s frowning and has a hand fisted into his hair.

Shrugging, Regulus looks away again, fixing his eyes on the forest at the edge of the grounds that are already becoming indistinguishable in the fading light. “It was never meant to go on for so long anyway, and the longer we keep it up, especially with – “ he gestures helplessly into James’ direction, “Stuff like you did today, the more complicated it gets.”

James huffs, staying silent for a moment. “But I’m – I mean it’s going well, isn’t it? I stop kissing you if you want – “

“For fuck's sake,” he finally snaps, glaring at James who takes a step back. “You had your fun, it’s all been a great prank, but I can’t – I don’t _want_ to do this anymore, so you just have to find yourself a different pastime, alright?”

“It’s not been some prank for me!” James instantly shoots back, his eyes blazing.

“Oh yeah? Then what was it, really? And don’t tell me you simply did it because I asked you to, it’s been rather obvious how much you enjoyed this little game,” he sneers, burying all his hurt and disappointment deep underneath the anger and not caring one bit that he’s being a bit unfair here. Honestly, James could have simply left him alone, or at least agree to stop the whole thing and leave it at that.

“I enjoyed it because I like you! Because I’m – I have – “

“Oh great, yeah. I like you too, but that doesn’t mean that we have to pretend to be a bloody couple. You don’t do that with Sirius either, do you?!”

James stares at him incredulously, his hands balled into fists at his side and it’s a weird feeling all this provokes in him – it’s painful, fighting like this, but it’s also _easier_ , better than this soft, intimate side he witnessed over the last few weeks, and the self-destructive, proud, stubborn part of himself wants to make it worse, wants to burn all the bridges they’ve built between them and only remember _this_ because it would make everything so much safer.

“Are you – for Merlin’s sake Regulus,” James sighs, suddenly sounding tired, shoulders slumping and his hand messing up his hair for the umpteenth time. “I have a bloody crush on you, alright? Not even – I suppose it’s more than a crush and really, I should have told you earlier and not take advantage of the whole situation but it was just – at least it let me pretend, for a moment, that it – that we could be something more because, well… Nevermind, I should go.”

There’s a strange, rushing sound in his ears, he can feel his heart racing painfully in his chest and his mouth is dry as he watches James turn with one last, sad look at him.

“Wait,” he manages to choke out, the word coming out raspy and silent and he quickly takes two steps forward, curling his fingers around James’ wrist before he even knows what he’s doing, before he has any idea what he’s supposed to say.

James turns slowly, frowning and looking at the spot where Regulus is still holding his wrist. He lets go on instinct, wincing at the resigned look flashing through James’ eyes. Merlin but he’s absolutely shit at talking about feelings, there are a thousand things he wants to say and each and every one of them sounds more ridiculous and stupid than he can bring himself to voice.

The longer he’s silent, the more James’ face shutters, his lips pressing into a thin line and his shoulders tensing, and fuck he _really_ needs to say something and maybe it doesn’t matter all that much what it is, exactly, in the end.

“I – Me too, I mean – it’s why I… Why I was so set on ending this because I just couldn’t – it’s too hard to pretend, all the time and you – fuck, why is this so hard?” he laughs hollowly, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair. “I like you, like, _a lot.”_

James turns fully towards him then, taking a step closer and slowly raising his hands to Regulus’ face, thumbs running over his cheekbones and he closes his eyes, leaning into the touch.

“I should have asked you this much earlier, but can I kiss you, please?” James murmurs, so close already that his breath is ghosting over Regulus’ lips and he doesn’t think he could speak if he wanted to, so he simply nods.

It’s a soft, careful kiss, just a brushing of lips and completely different from their first two kisses but it makes his breath catch and a shiver run down his spine, much more intense than the others. He wraps his arms around James’ waist, pulling him closer and deepens the kiss, has to fist one hand into the back of James’ jumper because he feels like if he doesn’t ground himself somehow, he’s just going to break apart or drown, going to burst with the rush of happiness and disbelief and joy that’s threatening to overwhelm him.

James tangles his hands in Regulus’ hair, humming softly and bites into his bottom lip before running his tongue over the spot.

“Hey Reg, are you – oh.”

They only slowly break apart and it takes several moments for him to comprehend that Barty is standing in the doorway, looking at them with wide eyes. Regulus can’t help the laugh escaping him, his heart still racing and happiness bubbling within him. Really, he thinks, going through such a wide arrange of emotions in the course of half a day can’t be healthy, and he leans against James for support because he fears his legs might just give out in exhaustion.

“I’m fine, as you can see. We kind of – sorted it out,” he finally manages to say, knowing that he must look like an utter sap right now but he just can’t find it in himself to care.

Barty snorts, shaking his head. “I figured. So I take it you’re not staying?” he says with a smirk, looking between the two of them.

James' arm around him tightens at the mention, making his heart jump again. “No, thank you. But we should catch up soon, yeah? You need to visit us, or come to one of our matches,” he says, still remembering that he thought he should see Barty more often.

“Will do,” Barty says with mock-seriousness before pinning James with a look. “Don’t do anything stupid, Potter.” With that, he turns on his heel and disappears back into the house, and Regulus can only hide his laughter in James’ neck.

“Let’s go home,” James murmurs into his hair, and Regulus didn’t think something as simple as that could sound so terribly good.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it, I'd be happy to hear what you think!  
> Find me on [Tumblr,](https://queenofthedagger.tumblr.com/) send me asks, prompts, requests for headcanons <3


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